The first meeting of the
immigration working group of the Iranian
Canadian Congress will be taking place on
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 in Committee
Room # 1 of North York Civic Centre.

The focus of this working
group will be on educating the members of
the public about the repercussions of the
immigration reform legislation and
identification of individuals who have been
affected by them.

All interested in the topic
and particularly those who have been
affected by the newimmigration
rules or those with expertise in the area
are encouraged to attend.

Citizenship and
Immigration Minister Chris Alexander has
defended his bill by arguing citizenship is a
privilege, not a right. He is wrong. It may come
with responsibilities, but it is a right. And
once legitimately acquired, by birth or
naturalization, it cannot be taken away. Bill
C-24 gives the government the kind of sweeping
power that is common in dictatorships, not in a
democracy built upon the rule of law, where all
citizens are equal. The changes to the
Citizenship Act erode those basic principles,
creating a two-tier citizenship that dilutes
what it means to be Canadian.

Canadians with another
nationality (and those who are eligible to
obtain another nationality) now have
second-class status, even if they were born in
Canada: under Bill C-24, their citizenship can
be stripped.

Dividing
people into different classes that receive
different treatment under the law is unfair and
un-Canadian. Bill C-24 has turned millions of
Canadians into second-class citizens with
reduced rights—and as a result, has reduced the
value of Canadian citizenship.